CVE-2024-1009VulnerabilityPublished 29 Jan 2024Updated 5 Jun 2025

CVE-2024-1009: SourceCodester Employee Management System · SQL Injection

Affects SourceCodester Employee Management SystemSource CVE Database V5

Not known to be exploited · CVSS 7.3 High.

Data as of 25 Oct 2026, 19:02 UTC

CVSS 3.1 base score

7.3High

How severe the flaw is on the 0–10 CVSS scale.

EPSS: 0.7% chance of exploitation in 30 days – higher than 55% of CVEsExploit Prediction Scoring System: the likelihood attackers will use this flaw soon.

CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:L/I:L/A:L

Attack Vector: Network
Attack Complexity: Low
Privileges Required: None
User Interaction: None
Scope: Unchanged
Confidentiality: Low
Integrity: Low
Availability: Low

Bold values are the worst case: easiest to exploit or largest impact.

Attack Vector: Network: The vulnerable component is bound to the network stack and the set of possible attackers extends beyond the other options listed, up to and including the entire Internet. Such a vulnerability is often termed 'remotely exploitable' and can be thought of as an attack being exploitable at the protocol level one or more network hops away (e.g., across one or more routers).
Attack Complexity: Low: Specialized access conditions or extenuating circumstances do not exist. An attacker can expect repeatable success against the vulnerable component.
Privileges Required: None: The attacker is unauthorized prior to attack, and therefore does not require any access to settings or files to carry out an attack.
User Interaction: None: The vulnerable system can be exploited without any interaction from any user.
Scope: Unchanged: An exploited vulnerability can only affect resources managed by the same security authority. In this case, the vulnerable component and the impacted component are either the same, or both are managed by the same security authority.
Confidentiality: Low: There is some loss of confidentiality. Access to some restricted information is obtained, but the attacker does not have control over what information is obtained, or the amount or kind of loss is limited. The information disclosure does not cause a direct, serious loss to the impacted component.
Integrity: Low: Modification of data is possible, but the attacker does not have control over the consequence of a modification, or the amount of modification is limited. The data modification does not have a direct, serious impact on the impacted component.
Availability: Low: Performance is reduced or there are interruptions in resource availability. Even if repeated exploitation of the vulnerability is possible, the attacker does not have the ability to completely deny service to legitimate users. The resources in the impacted component are either partially available all of the time, or fully available only some of the time, but overall there is no direct, serious consequence to the impacted component.

Definitions: FIRST CVSS v3.1 specification.

Exploitation evidence

Disclosed: evidence found.
CVE published 29 Jan 2024
Detectable: no evidence on record.
No public nuclei template indexed
Weaponised: no evidence on record.
No public exploit code indexed in Metasploit or Exploit-DB
Exploited in the wildExploited: no evidence on record.
Not in CISA KEV and no source reports exploitation
Observed by OffSeq MirageSeen by Mirage: no evidence on record.
No attack traffic recorded by OffSeq Mirage sensors

A missing step is not evidence of safety. Sources: cve.org (opens in a new tab), the Metasploit, Exploit-DB and nuclei-templates index as of 2026-10-25.

Disclosed: The CVE record is public on cve.org. Its publication is t = 0.
Detectable: A public nuclei template can find exposed instances, for defenders and attackers alike.
Weaponised: Public exploit code exists in Metasploit or Exploit-DB, or CISA SSVC reports a public proof of concept.
Exploited in the wild: CISA KEV lists it, CISA SSVC rates exploitation active, or a source reports attacks.
Observed by OffSeq Mirage: OffSeq Mirage honeypot sensors recorded attack traffic for this CVE, or found exposed hosts without attack traffic.

Moments are spaced evenly, not to scale; a dashed line marks a gap of six months or more. Deltas count from t = 0. Sources that give only a date (CISA KEV, Exploit-DB, or a time of exactly 00:00Z) read “same day” rather than hours. Metasploit modules carry the flaw’s disclosure date, not their release date, and nuclei templates carry no date, so both appear above but not on the timeline.

What to do

Affected software

Product	Affected	Fixed in
SourceCodester Employee Management System	Affected =1.0	Fixed in–

AI-suggested

Organizations should immediately assess their use of the SourceCodester Employee Management System version 1.0 and prioritize upgrading to a patched or newer version if available. In the absence of official patches, implement the following mitigations: 1) Employ Web Application Firewalls (WAFs) with custom rules to detect and block SQL injection patterns targeting the 'txtusername' parameter. 2) Conduct code reviews and refactor the login module to use parameterized queries or prepared statements to eliminate direct concatenation of user inputs into SQL commands. 3) Implement input validation and sanitization on the server side to reject suspicious input formats. 4) Monitor logs for unusual login attempts or SQL error messages that may indicate exploitation attempts. 5) Restrict database user privileges to the minimum necessary to limit the impact of a successful injection. 6) Segment and isolate the HR application environment to reduce lateral movement in case of compromise. 7) Educate IT and security teams about this vulnerability and ensure incident response plans include steps for SQL injection attacks. 8) Consider deploying runtime application self-protection (RASP) tools that can detect and block injection attacks in real time.

Description

A vulnerability was found in SourceCodester Employee Management System 1.0. It has been rated as critical. Affected by this issue is some unknown functionality of the file /Admin/login.php. The manipulation of the argument txtusername leads to sql injection. The attack may be launched remotely. The exploit has been disclosed to the public and may be used. VDB-252278 is the identifier assigned to this vulnerability.

Impact

For European organizations utilizing the SourceCodester Employee Management System 1.0, this vulnerability poses a significant risk. Exploitation could lead to unauthorized access to sensitive employee data, including personal identifiable information (PII), payroll details, and internal HR records. This compromises confidentiality and may result in regulatory non-compliance with GDPR, leading to legal and financial penalties. Integrity of employee data could be undermined, affecting payroll accuracy and operational decisions. Availability impacts could disrupt HR operations, delaying critical business processes. Given the remote exploitability and lack of authentication requirements, attackers can launch automated attacks at scale, potentially affecting multiple organizations simultaneously. The exposure of internal employee data could also facilitate further targeted attacks such as spear phishing or insider threat activities. The reputational damage from such breaches could be severe, especially for organizations in regulated sectors like finance, healthcare, and public administration within Europe.

Summary

CVE-2024-1009 is a critical SQL Injection vulnerability identified in version 1.0 of the SourceCodester Employee Management System, specifically within the /Admin/login.php file. The vulnerability arises from improper sanitization of the 'txtusername' parameter, which is susceptible to malicious input manipulation. An attacker can exploit this flaw remotely without requiring authentication or user interaction, by injecting crafted SQL statements into the username field during the login process. This can lead to unauthorized access, data leakage, modification of database contents, or denial of service. The vulnerability is classified under CWE-89, indicating a classic SQL Injection issue where user-supplied input is directly concatenated into SQL queries without adequate validation or parameterization. The CVSS v3.1 base score is 7.3 (high severity), reflecting the network attack vector, low attack complexity, no privileges required, and no user interaction needed, with impacts on confidentiality, integrity, and availability. Although no public exploits have been reported in the wild yet, the disclosure of the vulnerability and its technical details increases the risk of exploitation by threat actors. The lack of available patches or mitigations from the vendor further exacerbates the threat landscape for users of this software version.

CWE-89Improper Neutralization of Special Elements used in an SQL Command ('SQL Injection') (opens in a new tab)
Base weaknessLikelihood of exploit: HighCWE Top 25 (2025): #2OWASP Top 10 A05:2025: Injection (opens in a new tab)
The product constructs all or part of an SQL command using externally-influenced input from an upstream component, but it does not neutralize or incorrectly neutralizes special elements that could modify the intended SQL command when it is sent to a downstream component. Without sufficient removal or quoting of SQL syntax in user-controllable inputs, the generated SQL query can cause those inputs to be interpreted as SQL instead of ordinary user data.
Architecture and Design · Libraries or Frameworks
Use a vetted library or framework that does not allow this weakness to occur or provides constructs that make this weakness easier to avoid.
Architecture and Design · Parameterization
If available, use structured mechanisms that automatically enforce the separation between data and code. These mechanisms may be able to provide the relevant quoting, encoding, and validation automatically, instead of relying on the developer to provide this capability at every point where output is generated.
Architecture and Design · Operation · Environment Hardening
Run your code using the lowest privileges that are required to accomplish the necessary tasks. If possible, create isolated accounts with limited privileges that are only used for a single task. That way, a successful attack will not immediately give the attacker access to the rest of the software or its environment.
OWASP Cheat Sheets
Query Parameterization (opens in a new tab)
Unvalidated Redirects and Forwards (opens in a new tab)
XML Security (opens in a new tab)
XML External Entity Prevention (opens in a new tab)
File Upload (opens in a new tab)
OWASP ASVS 4.0.3
V5.3.4 (opens in a new tab)
V5.3.5 (opens in a new tab)
V1.5.1 (opens in a new tab)
Attack patterns
Command Line Execution through SQL Injection (opens in a new tab)
Object Relational Mapping Injection (opens in a new tab)
SQL Injection through SOAP Parameter Tampering (opens in a new tab)
Expanding Control over the Operating System from the Database (opens in a new tab)
SQL Injection (opens in a new tab)
From MITRE CWE, MITRE CAPEC and OWASP (Top 10, OpenCRE).

References

Community reviews

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Exploitation evidence

What to do

Affected software

Description

AI analysisMachine-generated, updated 7 Jul 2025, 18:56 UTC

WeaknessesCWE-89

Technical details

References

Community reviews

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